7 ms·

I would really agree with you, as a person who was born into the underclass I know full well the barrier to entry of getting a “first person in the family” pass

by dijit 1y ago

I would really agree with you, as a person who was born into the underclass I know full well the barrier to entry of getting a “first person in the family” passport and a drivers license has somehow lower hurdles (but those are well known). However, as mentioned, I can’t in good faith argue for the government to have an easier time categorising people. Such a system is so ripe for abuse. I have even advocated for it based on the Estonian eID system and the Swedish BankID (though I am aware of Danish and Norwegian BankID- I never used those). I’m still fully convinced that the British “Online Safety Bill” is actually a ploy to ensure that they have linked accounts to identity on any site where comments can be made; so they can prosecute people for expressing opinions[0]. Why else go for Wikipedia, and why else focus on sites with public commentary. You can’t say it’s to prevent pedophiles when with the right hand you imprison people for saying things online while with the left hand releasing actual pedophiles into society[1] To be fair, they did say it wasn’t primarily about protecting children[2], but then I guess I should figure out what else the OSA is for. [0]: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/E-10-2025-002239_EN.html https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/E-10-2025-0022... [1]: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/prisoners-early-release-sex-offenders-priti-patel-b2632979.html https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/prisoners-ear... & https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce80nl1k0p3o https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce80nl1k0p3o [2]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44910285 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44910285

raesene9 1y ago
The online safety act is a terrible piece of legislation, along with a variety of other ones promoted as being for "child safety" but having serious external consequences. But they implemented that act, without needing a digital ID. I don't think they need a digital ID to push authoritarian policies. And I think a digital ID has possible benefits for people who can't easily fit in to current setups, thus my point about it being orthogonal.
- dijit 1y ago
  The Digital ID will make it so that there’s no excuse for not connecting your identity to everything you do.
  - raesene9 1y ago
    The conservatives didnt need digital id to make id a requirement for voting, labour didnt need digital id to introduce the online safety act. Im not convinced that lack of digital id will deter authoritarian tendencies in uk govs…
    - mulmen 1y ago
      It’s not that the lack of digital ID prevents anything it’s that the digital ID makes abuse even easier.
      - raesene9 1y ago
        Possibly, although they don't seem very slowed down at the moment... My feeling is though that digital ID can have benefits which shouldn't be discounted when considering it. Specifically some people have problems with current age verification due to lack of things like passports and driver's licenses which are often used as stand-ins for digital ID. Also it can make a lot of very nonsensical processes better. Things were companies still insist on physical signatures as though those are good security measures, that could be replaced with digital signatures tied to an identity, which might actually provide some security benefits.
        mulmen 1y ago
        Is there something about digital IDs that make them easier to issue than passports? I understand what you are saying that they could have benefits but is that an inherent problem with passports or just bureaucracy?
        raesene9 1y ago
        UK passports cost almost £100, so a lot of people aren't going to get one unless they need to go abroad. I'd expect a required UK digital ID to be free at point of issue (otherwise there's not much point in it).

by dijit 1y ago

raesene9 1y ago

The online safety act is a terrible piece of legislation, along with a variety of other ones promoted as being for "child safety" but having serious external consequences. But they implemented that act, without needing a digital ID. I don't think they need a digital ID to push authoritarian policies. And I think a digital ID has possible benefits for people who can't easily fit in to current setups, thus my point about it being orthogonal.

dijit 1y ago
The Digital ID will make it so that there’s no excuse for not connecting your identity to everything you do.
- raesene9 1y ago
  The conservatives didnt need digital id to make id a requirement for voting, labour didnt need digital id to introduce the online safety act. Im not convinced that lack of digital id will deter authoritarian tendencies in uk govs…
  - mulmen 1y ago
    It’s not that the lack of digital ID prevents anything it’s that the digital ID makes abuse even easier.
    - raesene9 1y ago
      Possibly, although they don't seem very slowed down at the moment... My feeling is though that digital ID can have benefits which shouldn't be discounted when considering it. Specifically some people have problems with current age verification due to lack of things like passports and driver's licenses which are often used as stand-ins for digital ID. Also it can make a lot of very nonsensical processes better. Things were companies still insist on physical signatures as though those are good security measures, that could be replaced with digital signatures tied to an identity, which might actually provide some security benefits.
      - mulmen 1y ago
        Is there something about digital IDs that make them easier to issue than passports? I understand what you are saying that they could have benefits but is that an inherent problem with passports or just bureaucracy?
        raesene9 1y ago
        UK passports cost almost £100, so a lot of people aren't going to get one unless they need to go abroad. I'd expect a required UK digital ID to be free at point of issue (otherwise there's not much point in it).